Bousquet Holstein PLLC has announced the finalists and winners of its 2014 “Playful in Nature” 6th Annual Photography Contest.
The first place winning image was taken by ,a senior at East Syracuse MinoaHigh School. His art/photography teacher is Kim Canestrare. The Second Place winner is Elizabeth Belinski, a junior at Skaneateles High School. Her art/photo teacher is Tracy Hale. The Third Place winner is Mia Guariano, a sophomore at Westhill High School. Her art/photo teacher is Jamie Ashlaw.Finalists and winners were announced and presented with certificates and awards at a reception hosted by Bousquet Holstein at the Everson Museum of Art on October 16th.
Over 217 imageswere submitted by students in Syracuse and Onondaga County schools. Judges included representatives of the Everson Museum of Art, and members and staff of the law firm. The winning student received a scholarship check for $500 and his school art/photo department received a donation of $500 from the firm. The second and third place winners also received scholarship awards.
The firm’s annual photography contest is open to any City of Syracuse and Onondaga County High School students in grades 9 through 12. Each year the firm uses an exhibit at the Everson Museum of Art to create a theme for the photo contest. The theme for this year’s contest was inspired by the provocative multi-media works of Fernando Orellana currently on exhibit at the museum. For this year’s photo contest, students were challenged to discover and capture subject matters that were Playful in Nature.Students were encouraged to use composition, color, texture and shape to depict their subject(s) using a detail, a close-up, or any approach in a creative and playful way. Each year Bousquet Holstein features the winning image on its annual Thanksgiving card with a short biography about the student photographer.
The other finalists included:
| STUDENT | SCHOOL | SUBJECT MATTER | GRADE | AGE | TEACHER |
| Alicia Licari | Cicero-North Syracuse | “Power” Ballerinas, graceful and beautiful, but powerful and strong. | 12 | 17 | Heather Blaski |
| Isabella Gilner | Cicero-North Syracuse | “Show Me” A girl showing her hand of playing cards | 12 | 17 | Heather Blaski |
| Kali Penoyer | Cicero-North Syracuse | “Let’s Play A Game” taken at Times Square, 2 children and a street performer | 12 | 17 | Heather Blaski |
| Kellsie Zacholl | Cicero-North Syracuse | “Every Worm Plays” Green and yellow inchworm on a stick | 12 | 17 | Heather Blaski |
| Liz Westfall | Cicero-North Syracuse | “Wonderland” An arch of vined plants with hanging pom-poms | 11 | 16 | Heather Blaski |
| Liz Westfall | Cicero-North Syracuse | “Horsing Around” Close up of a wild Connemara pony (Ireland) | 11 | 16 | Heather Blaski |
| McKayla Brefka | Cicero-North Syracuse | “The Fair” An image taken at the New York State Fair | 11 | 16 | Heather Blaski |
| Tyler Hughes | Cicero-North Syracuse | “Jump” Young boy waterboarding on Charleston Lake in Canada | 11 | 15 | Heather Blaski |
| Mia Shum | CW Baker High School | Two statues with paint peeling off, sitting in the garden | 12 | 17 | Patricia Johnson |
| Sierra Haynes | East Syracuse Minoa | Jack-o’-Lantern ball being pushed up in a stream of water | 12 | 17 | Kim Canestrare |
| Tyler Mott | East Syracuse Minoa | Sitting on the roof looking out over the village | 12 | 17 | Kim Canestrare |
| Ashley Shayya | Fayetteville Manlius | Image of a toy train set | 10 | 15 | Brittney Culican |
| Leah Kuppermann | Fayetteville Manlius | Jellyfish taken at the aquarium in Washington, DC | 12 | 17 | Brittney Culican |
| Max Staniec | Fayetteville Manlius | A seal playing in the sand in California | 10 | 15 | Brittney Culican |
| Olivia Ryan | Fayetteville Manlius | Girl in black dress with colorful balloons | 12 | 17 | Brittney Culican |
| Zoe Miller | Fayetteville Manlius | Colorfully painted and adorned garage | 11 | 16 | Brittney Culican |
| Rachel Halpin | Liverpool High School | Close up of a maple leaf with a heart shape cut out and a girl looking through the opening | 12 | 16 | Diane Sipfle |
| Abby Vetsch | Marcellus High School | Water balloon being popped | 10 | 15 | Tara Charles |
| Ashley Seymour | Marcellus High School | A person “emerging” from the driveway | 11 | 16 | Tara Charles |
| Megan Haney | Marcellus High School | A boy holding chalk balloons | 12 | 17 | Tara Charles |
| Rachel Ceparski | Marcellus High School | Girl blowing bubbles | 12 | 16 | Tara Charles |
| Madison Pinckney | Skaneateles High School | Honolulu, HI, a wave captured at its tallest point | 11 | 16 | Tracy Hale |
| Benjamin Hunter | Westhill High School | Thousand Islands Park, boy jumping off dock | 11 | 16 | Jamie Ashlaw |
| Sarah Hoare | Westhill High School | Girl hanging from monkey bars at playground | 10 | 16 | Jamie Ashlaw |